Oct 21...the bullet version

Okay.... i think this week is just bullets for me because im kind of confused about what i have done.... sometimes that happens weeks just FLY BY I swear... i cannot believe it has been seven months already. But each day is an adventure each week is crazy and each month i love so much!

-On tuesday we had dinner with Ed and Sheryl, two of our members. It was so great! We had ribs and later played croquet and had a fire with marshmellows and roasted starbursts.... it was a great time!

-We also got in a car accident... it was a little bump from behind, not a huge deal. and it wasnt my fault so thats always good! I swear the paperwork to fill out takes soooooo much time but im just glad everyone is okay and it wasnt too much damage.

-We had ward coordination where we came up with the idea to give away cds with talks on them from conference to both our members, investigators, and less actives. We as sisters are in charge of the cases because apparently we can get away with being cutsie but we are excited for the things that is going to bring.

-We had dinner with a 97 year old lady... She has so much information in her head i dont know how she remembers it all. She is truly a saint and so cute!

-We had exchanges this week. I got to go on another exchange with sister bennette. She is so great! on this exchange we got to celeberate a birthday with a family in our ward and had some incredible cherry cupcakes, we also raked leaves with the elders and i got to fill out more paperwork.

-Friday we had an incredible tracting experience where we knocked around the area of a former we were stopping by and someone not only let us in but let us do a short thought and invited us back to teach her and her husband next week. It was incredible!!!!!!! We are so excited and when we gave her a book of mormon she got the biggest smile on her face and told us she didnt have a bible of her own and that it was a really sweet gift.... man does the book of mormon touch peoples hearts or what?!

-We also got to attend one of londons baptisms because sister fellows had taught the kids being baptized... sister hutchinson and sister bronson had three baptisms this weekend and it was an incredible experience.

-Stake conference was this weekend too and it was all about the hastening of the work. That is being pushed here so much and i think the time i realized the most the gravity of it all is when he had all the full time missionaries stand up.... there was a lot of us in that room and its only increasing the work is hastening and its time we joined it.

-oh and we found a second new investigator this week. She is incredible. She has been taught before and when we knocked on the door she opened it and said oh im so excited to see those badges come in, told us she wanted to come back and everyone was telling her to come back, and invited us back twice this next week to teach her and husband... so excited!

-we also street contacted a drunk guy... we said hi to him and i think two girls saying hi to him made him wonder what was going on... he asked if he could walk with us, i said sure as long as we could share our message with him as we walked. We commited him to church (if he remembers) and we also got him to pray with us on the street. I was going to offer the prayer but he just went and said it... sister fellows thought i was crazy, we both thought he was going to follow us home but in the end we just had a really neat experince.

It was a fantastic week!!!! I'm nervous for transfer calls but i have all week to be nervous for that! Im excited for the changing the lord has prepared for me and i love being a missionary so much!!!!!

 

 

I (jessalyn's mom) also asked her to answer some questions and I think her answers give me a pretty good idea of how life is besides the work. Here are her answers:

 

For my pday we played dodgeball this morning with our zone. It was really fun but the sisters are kinda being lame and not playing and our numbers on the court get smaller and smaller even though our numbers in the field get bigger and bigger. Now I'm emailing you with the slight hope that you are just sitting by your computer with anticipation for our life that seems to be flying right by! it was our 7 month mark yesterday.... CRAZY! then we might get lunch, go shopping both for groceries and a winter coat... that kind of needs to get done it is getting cold fast then i will probably go home and try to be a better friend and missionary and actually write letters to people. then dinner and we are off to a less active lesson and trying to find one of our investigators that went MIA!!!!!!

 

For breakfast most days i eat a peanut butter sandwich with a glass of fake milk. not very healthy i know... i use to eat cherrios with blueberries but i kind of had the same problem as you... they are TOOOO EXPENSIVE!

 

Im trying to show my companion love in little ways like making lunch or dinner, cleaning the kitchen because i know she hates it, asking one thing i dont know about her each day, and trying to be nice.... i seem to be having a difficult time showing love to people right now but its something im working on :) \

 

I gave myself a gold star this morning actually...i had a really effective personal study and it was SOOO nice... im getting ready to present a portion or talk at the sister conference that is coming up at the end of the month.... super nervous and not quite sure what they were thinking asking me but we will see.

 

The last time i literally gave someone a gold star was probably sister christensen but... i really love my district and i try to give at least one of them a gold star every day... i try at least!

 

My favorite members to visit are probably sheryl and ed... they are fantastic and they truly love us all... i feel like they have just adopted me in and its nice to feel safe and cared about for a little bit.... plus we always seem to get to play with fire.... the elders are pyros... ALL OF THEM! I will definately be calling ed and sheryl when i get home!

 

We are raking the leaves of our members which is SUPER FUN to do! I am also going to buy a winter coat today.. im wearning nylons and tights again and we have the heater on..... its getting cold really really fast here!

 

diet coke... wait does that count as candy.... ;) no my favorite candy right now is probably oh henrys... I LOVE OH HENRYS!!!!!!!!!!! im not eating a whole lot of candy because we bake a lot for our district and members.... so we eat the left over stragglers. i still havent gained any weight..i checked this morning!

 

The closest store is safeway... its right across the street we see it every day we get into the car... and then two blocks down (maybe) is the mall which is pretty big so really we have TONS of stores right next to us.. i do live in the city you know!

 

a package with something from home in it... i could use a new black skirt, and my black shoes are kind of rotten... and probably some new nylons so those too! lots of letters, printed out pictures, and hugs sent through this lovely christmas season! that would be nice! also.... skype date would be preferable... we will see... transfer calls come this week so maybe i wont even be in the city anymore.

 

I love you mom... your the best! thank you for believing in me no matter what! love you!

Jessalyn